What Police Don't Want You to Know About Field Sobriety Tests

Posted on Dec 1, 2017 1:40pm PST

Highway patrol officers all around the country rely heavily on field sobriety
tests (FST) to secure a driving under the influence (DUI) arrest. Since knowledge is power, police would prefer it if drivers knew
as little about FSTs and their rights as a DUI suspect as possible. Otherwise,
their favorite tool to get an arrest and eventual conviction could become
less useful. At Tidwell Law Group, LLC, our Birmingham criminal defense
lawyer believes everyone should be armed with information to keep the
criminal justice system honest.

Here are the three secrets the police would rather you not know about field
sobriety tests:

Field sobriety tests are unreliable: Probably the number one thing the police do not want you knowing about
FSTs is that they are notoriously unreliable and entirely subjective.
The police officer administering the test is the only one who is in charge
of determining the driver’s sobriety. There is simply no science
or objectiveness behind this process, which means the test results can
never be taken as accurate.

You might be able to refuse your FST without consequence: In some cases, you do not even need to take a field sobriety test
at all and without fearing any sort of immediate legal consequence. Unless the
officer tells you the proposed test is mandatory, you might be want to
choose not to take it. After all, you know it will be inaccurate and subjective,
meaning the officer can interpret the results however they want and misconstrue
it into evidence of your alleged intoxication.

Blood tests need a warrant now: This secret is not exactly about field sobriety tests but it is related
– and it is
important. The United States Supreme Court recently held that it was an unconstitutional
violation of a suspect’s privacy rights top draw blood to conduct
a blood test without a warrant. If you get brought back to a station for
chemical tests and they want to do a blood draw, you can ask to see a warrant signed
by a judge and refuse if they cannot produce one.

The point of these secrets is that you have more power and rights than
you will be told when pulled over for suspicion of a DUI. It is important
to stay calm, know your rights, and exercise them. If you do end up in
trouble or handcuffs, ask to be permitted to call
205.800.8596 right away so you can talk to our Birmingham DUI lawyer at Tidwell Law
Group, LLC. We can get you started with an
initial consultation to discuss how you can fight your DUI charges.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. No representation
is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater
than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.